Policies & Guidelines

This is the Official website of Hyderabad Metropolitan Water supply and Sewerage Board , Department of MA&UD , Ministry of Municipal Administration , Government of Telangana, designed, developed and hosted by IT WING of HMWSSB

The site has been developed to provide information to the general public. An attempt has been made through this site to provide reliable, comprehensive, accurate information about Water Supply and Sewerage System of HMWSSB under jurisdiction HMWSSB  .

The content in this site is the result of a collaborative effort of various Groups and Divisions of the Department. It is our endeavour to continue the enhancement and enrichment of this site in terms of content coverage, design and technology on a regular basis.

• Content Contribution, Moderation & Approval Policy (CMAP)
• Content Review Policy (CRP)
• Content Archival Policy (CAP)
• Copyright Policy
• Hyperlinking Policy
• Privacy Policy
• Website Monitoring Policy
• Website Security Policy
• PWebsite Contingency Management Policy

 

Content Contribution, Moderation & Approval Policy (CMAP)

Content needs to be contributed by the authorized Content Manager from various wings of HMWSSB in a consistent fashion to maintain uniformity and to bring in standardization along with associated metadata and keywords.

The content on the portal goes through the entire life-cycle process, which consists of:-

• Creation
• Modification
• Approval
• Moderation
• Publishing
• Expiry
• Archival

Once the content is contributed it needs to be approved and moderated prior to being published on the Website. The moderation could be multilevel and is role based. If the content is rejected at any level then it is reverted back to the originator of the content for modification.

Different Content Element is categorized as: -

• Routine –   activities that are done as a normal part of a job or process.  
• Priority -   activities that are done as a urgent part of a job or process
• Express -  activities that are done as a most urgent part of a job or process

 

(Approver and the moderator for each of the content element)

 

 

Content Review Policy (CRP)

HMWSSB website is an important tool for disseminating the information to the masses being served by the organization. It is therefore required to keep the content on the Website current and up-to-date and hence there is a need for the Content Review Policy. Since the scope of the content is huge, different Review Policies are defined for the diverse content elements.

The Review Policy is based on different type of content elements, its validity and relevance as well as the archival policy. The matrix below gives the Content Review Policy:

The entire website content would be reviewed for syntax check once a fortnightly by the HMWSSB Website

Content Archival Policy (CAP)

The Guidelines for Indian Government Websites (GIGW) stipulate that expired contents must not be presented or flashed on the website. Therefore, as per the content archival policy adopted by this department, contents will be deleted from the site after its expiry date. Important data will be shifted to the archives page. Therefore, the content contributors should revalidate/modify the content periodically to ensure that expired data is not present/flashed in the site. Wherever contents are no longer needed to be displayed, suitable advice may be sent to the web information manager for their archival/deletion.

Each of the content components is accompanied by meta data, source and validity date. For some of the components the validity date may not be known i.e., the content is stated to be perpetual. Under this scenario, the validity date should be Ten years.

For few of the components like announcements, tenders, only the live content whose validity date is after the current date is shown on the Website. For other components like documents, schemes, services, forms, websites and contact directory there is a need for timely review of the same as per the Content Review Policy.

Entry/Exit Policy and Archival Policy for the content elements on the HMWSSB website will be as per the following table:

Table- (Content Archival Policy)

 

 

Copyright Policy

Material featured on this Portal may be reproduced free of charge after taking proper permission by sending a mail to us. However, the material has to be reproduced accurately and not to be used in a derogatory manner or in a misleading context. Wherever the material is being published or issued to others, the source must be prominently acknowledged. However, the permission to reproduce this material shall not extend to any material which is identified as being copyright of a third party. Authorization to reproduce such material must be obtained from the departments/ copyright holders concerned.

 

Hyperlink Policy

Links to external websites/portals

At many places in this website, you shall find links to other websites/portals. The links have been placed for your convenience. HMWSSB is not responsible for the contents and reliability of the linked websites and does not necessarily endorse the views expressed in them. Mere presence of the link or its listing on this Portal should not be assumed as endorsement of any kind. We cannot guarantee that these links will work all the time and we have no control over availability of linked pages.

• Third party content should only be linked when consideration about the copyright, terms of use, permissions, content authenticity and other legal and ethical aspects of the concerned content have been taken into account.
• External hyperlinks, wherever present on the site, are verified and checked on a regular basis to ensure that the information being provided ‘through’ them is up-to-date, accurate and relevant.
• For third party copyright content HMWSSB follows proper procedures to obtain the permission, prior to publishing such information on their websites
• Visitors are notified when they are leaving a particular website through a hyperlink and entering another one. Clear indications are given when leaving the Government website for an external website

Links to HMWSSB-Website by other websites

We do not object to you linking directly to the information that is hosted on this site and no prior permission is required for the same. However, we would like you to inform us about any links provided to this Portal so that you can be informed of any changes or updating therein. Also, we do not permit our pages to be loaded into frames on your site. The pages belonging to this site must load into a newly opened browser window of the User

Privacy Policy

HMWSSB Website does not automatically capture any specific personal information from you, (like name, phone number or e-mail address), that allows us to identify you individually. If the HMWSSB - Website requests you to provide personal information, you will be informed for the particular purposes for which the information is gathered and adequate security measures will be taken to protect your personal information.

We do not sell or share any personally identifiable information volunteered on the HMWSSB Website to any third party (public/private). Any information provided to this website will be protected from loss, misuse, unauthorized access or disclosure, alteration, or destruction.

We gather certain information about the User, such as Internet protocol (IP) addresses, domain name, browser type, operating system, the date and time of the visit and the pages visited. We make no attempt to link these addresses with the identity of individuals visiting our site unless an attempt to damage the site has been detected.

• Government websites should follow an extremely cautious approach when it comes to collecting personal details/information about the visitors to the sites. Only the information which is absolutely necessary should be solicited.
• In case a Department solicits or collects personal information from visitors through their websites, it MUST incorporate a prominently displayed Privacy Statement clearly stating the purpose for which information is being collected, whether the information shall be disclosed to anyone for any purpose and to whom.
• Further, the privacy statement should also clarify whether any cookies shall be transferred onto the visitor’s system during the process and what shall be the purpose of the same.

Website Monitoring Policy

• “Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.” has a Website Monitoring Policy in place and the website is monitored periodically to address and fix the quality and compatibility issues around the following parameters:
• Performance: Site download time is optimized for a variety of network connections as well as devices. All important pages of the website are tested for this.
• Functionality: All modules of the website are tested for their functionality. The interactive components of the site such as, feedback forms are working smoothly.
• Broken Links: The website is thoroughly reviewed to rule out the presence of any broken links or errors.
• Traffic Analysis: The site traffic is regularly monitored to analyse the usage patterns as well as visitors’ profile and preferences.
• Feedback: Feedback from the visitors is the best way to judge a website’s performance and make necessary improvements. A proper mechanism for feedback is in place to carry out the changes and enhancements as suggested by the visitors.

Website Security Policy

• “Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board” website contains information which is freely accessible, and may be viewed by any visitor. However, the website maintains a copyright interest in the contents of all of its websites.
• Except for authorized security investigations and data collection, no attempts will be made to identify individual users. Accumulated data logs will be scheduled for regular deletion. The Website Privacy Policy details our position regarding the use of personal information provided by customers/visitors.
• Unauthorized attempts to upload information or change information are strictly prohibited, and may be punishable under the Information Technology Act, 2000.

For Authorized Users:

User ID and Password Policy:

• Access to sensitive or proprietary business information on “Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.” websites is limited to users who have been determined to have an appropriate official reason for having access to such data. All authorized users who are granted security access will be provided by OTP authentication through registered mobile number with HMWSSB.
• Users who are granted access to restricted information are prohibited from sharing those OTPs with or divulging those OTPs to any third parties.

For all other users:

OTP Based Mechanism:

• Each HMWSSB user is identified with a CAN (Consumer Account Number) or a file number. Each CAN is linked with a mobile number. Any information related to the consumer can be viewed based on OTP only, which is sent to the registered mobile number.
• If you have any questions or comments regarding “Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.” Website Security Policy, please contact the Web Information Manager by using the Feedback option in “Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board." website. Back

PWebsite Contingency Management Policy

• The presence of the website on the Internet and very importantly the site is fully functional all the times. It is expected of the Government websites to deliver information and services on a 24X7 basis. Hence, all efforts are made to minimize the downtime of the website as far as possible.
• A Contingency Plan is prepared to handle any eventualities and restore the site in the shortest possible time. The possible contingencies include:
• Defacement of the website: All possible security measures are taken for the website to prevent any possible defacement/hacking by unscrupulous elements. However, if despite the security measures in place, such an eventuality occurs, the contingency plan immediately comes into force. If it has been established beyond doubt that the website has been defaced, the site will be immediately blocked. The contingency plan indicatesWeb Information Manager as the authorised person to decide on the further course of action in such eventualities. The complete contact details of Web Information Manager are available at all times with the web management team. Efforts are made to restore the original site in the shortest possible time. At the same time, regular security reviews and checks are conducted in order to plug any loopholes in the security.
• Data Corruption: A mechanism is in place with the consultation of web hosting service provider to ensure that appropriate and daily incremental and monthly full back-ups of the website data are being taken. These enable a fast recovery and uninterrupted availability of the information to the citizens in view of any data corruption.
• Hardware/Software Crash: Though such an occurrence is a rarely, still in case the server on which the website is being hosted crashes due to some unforeseen reason, the web hosting service provider has enough redundant infrastructure available to restore the website at the earliest.
• Natural Disasters: There could be circumstances whereby due to some natural calamity, the entire data center where the website is being hosted gets destroyed or ceases to exist. A well planned contingency mechanism is in place for such eventualities whereby is should be ensured that the Hosting Service Provider has a ‘Disaster Recover Centre (DRC)’ set up at and the website is switched over to the DRC with minimum delay and restored on the Net.
• Apart from the above, in the event of any National Crisis or unforeseen calamity, Government websites are looked upon as a reliable and fast source of information to the public. A contingency plan for all such eventualities isin place so that the emergency information/contact help-lines could be displayed on the website without any delay. For this, the concerned person in the HMWSSB responsible for publishing such emergency information must be identified and the complete contact details should be available at all times.